Paul Santos was surfing Kiholo Bay Wednesday, January 16, 2013 on the Big Island of Hawaii when a 15-18 foot tiger shark bit down on his right arm and leg. His surfing buddy Steve Macres saw the entire thing, according to a story in the Star Advertiser.
“I turned around to go on a wave and heard him. I heard that blood-curdling scream. It was just so primordial. It was unbelievable and it went into an echo so I could tell while he was screaming, he went underwater,” Macres told KITV-TV. Macres said he saw the shark come out of the water, followed by a splash and then nothing. He said he thought his friend was dead and made a quick decision to paddle to shore. About 20 feet later, he decided to turn around to get another look. . . “I just see him paddling for me. It was just incredible. It was like he was just born again, I just went, ‘Oh God. Thank God.’ You know?” said Marcres. “And then he lifted his right arm and his hand was flopping and it was, the bone was connected and it didn’t break, but everything else was gone. I go, ‘Paddle Paul, paddle!”’
On Thursday Santos was at Kaiser Permanente’s Moanalua Medical Cetner in Honolulu, according to the story, where he was “in stable condition with bites to his right arm and leg.”
[Link: Star Advertiser]
